Little Severide
by fanfic-nerd-101
Summary: It had been 3 long years since Kelly had seen his sister Ebony. Now she's back in Chicago and trying to find where she fits in as an adult whilst navigating new and old relationships with her 51 family. Rated T but will deal with trigger material including SI, warnings will be highlighted in the designated chapters. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

_**Here's a new fiction. I'm a fan of the show watching in the UK, so with that in mind I will apologise in advance for any mistakes I make. I haven't decided at what point in the programme that I want to set this from, but hopefully I'll figure it out soon. Thanks for the read and enjoy!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

The firefighters of firehouse 51 were slowly trickling into the recreation room having changed and showered following the last call. Peter Mills was stood in the kitchen area preparing food for his crew mates. Despite no longer being the candidate, he still enjoyed cooking for the firehouse and he trusted his cooking over anyone else's.

"Grub's up." Peter said as he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to put his pasta dish into a large bowl and was surprised to see a woman standing cautiously at the entrance to the room. "Hello?" Peter said slowly.

"Hi." The girl said nervously and Peter couldn't help but think that she looked familiar. "I'm looking for Lieutenant Severide?" She had a quiver in her voice that unnerved Pete slightly but before he could respond, the rest of the crew entered the rec room from the locker room.

"Hi guys, this..." Peter was about to explain what the girl wanted when he was interrupted.

"Is that little Severide?" Herrmann chimed, which was returned with a simple smile from the girl and mutterings of 'no way' from the longer serving guys.

"Ebby?" Kelly said in disbelief as he followed the sounds of excitement.

"Hey Kelly" 'Ebby' responded with the same nervousness as before. Kelly ran towards her with his arms outstretch, sweeping her up into a hug.

As this occurred, the whole room spotted the girl stiffen as she was taken up into Kelly's strong arms and embraced. The room wondered if he had noticed the same, but they weren't going to call him on it now; it had been almost 3 years since they had last seen her.

"Guys, you all remember my kid sister Ebony?" Kelly had the biggest smile on his face as he proudly twisted his sister into a one arm hug.

"You didn't tell us she was coming back?" Herrmann said, smiling at the happiness on Kelly's face.

"I didn't know" Kelly said, realisation creeping across his face as he looked down at his sister.

"Well you know Kelly, after 3 years studying at university, they tend to give you a degree and you graduate." Ebony said sarcastically but still with a smile on her face.

"Check this out, my little sister has just returned with a degree from a British university." Kelly beamed with pride.

"So we now know that she got your share of the brains too, right Kelly?" Leslie Shay appeared behind the siblings smiling as she saw Ebony.

"Shay!" Ebony said warmly and turned to embrace her brother's roommate.

"Hey baby." Shay smiled as she hugged the younger girl. "Man you're looking good girl."

"Put your tongues back in, all of you." Kelly warned pointing at each of his colleagues.

"Never." Said Herrmann holding his hands up, "She's a kid. I still remember her running around in your fire kit and running into a wall because she couldn't see with your helmet on."

"Thanks for that." Ebony blushed as she remembered running around the fire house in her brother's spare fire kit whilst they were on a shout. Embarrassingly, she'd actually been 16 when that had happened "And I'm 21, less of the kid please."

"Come on, let's go and catch up in my office." Kelly smiled as he led her out of the rec room, passing Matt Casey on the way passed.

"Hey was that Ebony?" Casey asked as he came into the room. "Severide didn't say she was coming."

"He didn't know" Herrmann explained. "Did anyone else notice her flinch when Severide hugged her?" But Herrmann didn't really want an answer, the whole room nodded in agreement and that worried them.

"So, why didn't you tell me that you were back?" Kelly said as he shut his office door and held out a chair for his sister, whilst he sat on the bed.

"I've only been back a couple of weeks; my visa ran out not long after I graduated." Ebony explained quietly. Kelly noticed her demeanour, it was different now and that made him wary.

Kelly looked at his sister. He hadn't seen her in 3 years since she had moved to England with a scholarship to study biomedical science. Sure, they had emailed each other a few times but they didn't have the relationship they used to. She looked so different now, she was still shorter than him with brown hair but she was now straightening it and had a toned figure. She was wearing a simple navy university hoody with jeans and flat shoes, a far cry from the tomboy in ill-fitting jeans she was when she left.

"Where've you been all this time then?" Kelly asked, trying to get his head around the change in his little sister. She was a grown woman now, with a degree none the less! It was undeniable that his little sister had received all the brains in the family. Ebony was fast approaching 22 and was 6 years younger than him, but once upon a time that wasn't a problem. As a child, Ebony had rarely left his side, which would annoy any normal sibling but not Kelly; he'd enjoyed his little sisters company as much as she had his. Kelly had missed her more than he thought possible when she left for England, but with the situation at the time, it was best for her to go.

"Ebby?" Kelly looked to his sister for an answer, she'd not given an answer yet and he wasn't going to let this go.

"I've been staying at a storage unit, with my stuff." Ebony said in barely a whisper.

"A storage unit?" He repeated, shocked. "Why? What? Why didn't you come and see me sooner?"

"I had just enough money to store my stuff in a unit. I was kinda hoping to find a job quicker than I have. Except, the owner of the lot caught me sleeping there and has given me 24 hours to get my stuff out." Ebony explained not looking at her brother as she fiddled with her sleeve.

"Where've you been showering, eating? This is mad Ebby. You should have called me" Kelly shook his head, had they really drifted that much that she couldn't talk to him?

"I didn't want to be a burden or anything Kelly. You looked after me when mom died, I couldn't ask for your help again. I didn't want to disappoint you; I should have been able to find a job straight out of uni but I haven't." Ebony sniffed slightly, she wasn't sure what she was getting upset about.

"Hey, hey," Kelly said, moving over to sit on his desk. "You're not a burden."

"I'm sorry Kelly." Ebony said and the tears began to flow now. She knew that this wasn't just about the storage unit, it was moving back to Chicago, leaving the UK and generally everything that had happened in the last 3 years. For Ebony, the last 3 years had been tough. She'd missed her big brother so much, they'd never spent more than a day apart (when he was on shift) and then all off a sudden she hadn't seen him for 3 years.

Kelly gathered his sister up in his arms and held on to her. He wondered what else had happened in the three years since he'd last seen her. She was different now compared to how she was then, it wasn't surprising but it did concern him. As he held his sister, he could feel her weeping into his shirt and he sighed.

"My shift is over soon, we can go and get your stuff from storage and move it into our flat. You're ok living with Shay again right?" Kelly said softly as he glanced across the room, shift would be over in a little over an hour; luckily.

"I'll get a job as soon as I can and pay rent and then I'll get out of your hair." Ebony sat up, desperately trying to make it look as if she hadn't been sobbing into her big brothers shirt.

"No, you will stay with us rent free until you get a job that you actually want. That you're qualified for." Kelly looked her straight in the eyes as he told her this. "Then we'll look at you paying your way, but not before."

"Thank you Kelly, you shouldn't have to still be looking after me." Ebony smiled weakly.

"Enough of that." Kelly laughed and just then there came a knock at the door.

When Kelly shouted to enter, Ebony smiled happily as she saw chief Boden stood in the doorway. Judging by the smile on his face, he was equally pleased to see her. "I'd heard we had a prestigious visitor." He laughed holding his arms out to greet the youngest Severide.

"How you doing Chief?" Ebony smiled, embracing him lightly.

"Not as good as you miss I-just-graduated-college." Boden joked, winking at Kelly. "Mills has cooked up a storm and the others want to see you." Boden said nodding his head towards the kitchen.

"Alright, I get the hint." Ebony laughed and headed towards the rec room. She may have been gone for 3 years but she knew a hint when she heard it; Boden clearly wanted to talk to Severide and she shut the door behind her.

"Herrmann mentioned she was here. You didn't say anything." Boden began as he leaned against the wall.

"I didn't know chief; I'm just as shocked as everyone else. I haven't heard much from her in three years. Now I learn that she's been in Chicago for a few weeks too." Kelly explained.

"Herrmann also said that there was something off about her." Boden looked seriously at Kelly, concern painted across his face. "We all know Christopher isn't the most observant of men but for him to say something..." Boden trailed off as Kelly nodded.

"I know, I felt her flinch as I hugged her." Kelly put his head in his hands. "I don't know what has happened, but I'm going to find out."

"I really hope she's ok, she's been through so much." Boden said remorsefully.

"I know chief." He sighed looking up at Boden "I know..."

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 **There we go! I hope you like it. Please be kind with your reviews!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kelly came into the rec room and smiled as he saw his sister chatting to Herrmann. He grabbed himself a plate of the food that Mills had prepared and sat down next to Herrmann, opposite Ebony.

"Hey, so this one graduated top of her class!" Herrmann boasted with his thick Boston accent.

"Did you really?" Kelly looked up at his sister, who was blushing.

"It's no big deal really guys," Ebony tried to play it down but to no avail.

"No big deal?" Herrmann echoed, "If your brother had achieved that, we'd never hear the end of it!" The whole room chuckled in agreement.

"Hey!" He tried to defend himself but quickly gave up as the guys started chiming in with 'do you remember the time...'

"So are you sticking around kiddo?" Herrmann asked, but before Ebony could answer were herself, she was interrupted by Shay sitting down next to her.

"Of course she is! We've got a spare room, right Kelly?" Shay nudged her shoulder, but this caused Ebony to wince. Shay, Herrmann and Kelly all looked at each other with shared concern but decided that this was neither the time nor the place to bring it up.

"You have really developed those mind reading skills, haven't you Shay? I was literally about to ask you." Kelly tried to lift the mood and not draw attention to his sister's reaction.

"Yay, another girl around the house!" Shay smiled and looked down at her watch. "Shifts over too! What a day this is!" Ebony watched as she bounced off to the locker room, followed by the other firefighters.

"Hey, since we all missed your 21st birthday we should have a party at Molly's tonight!" Herrmann said happily, "And there's no getting out of it!" He gave her no chance to argue as he walked off to the locker room.

Kelly stood up and smiled at his sister, "My baby sister can now drink; this will take some getting used to!"

"Hey, I've been drinking in the UK for the last 3 years." Ebony smirked as she saw the horrified look on her brother's face. "Drinking age is 18 over there!"

"I didn't need to be reminded of that" He laughed, "You ok to wait here whilst I get my bag? How much stuff do you have, will I have to borrow Casey's truck?"

"No, I haven't got much. A few suitcases and boxes." Ebony smiled, it was true that she didn't have much, she'd left England in a hurry. But it was good to back in Chicago and with her brother.

"Hey, what's up with Eb?" Shay asked as Kelly rounded the corner towards the locker room, leaving Ebony in the rec room. "We all saw her flinch before and people are conspiring in the locker room." Shay had a concerned look on her face, which matched Kelly's own.

"I don't know Shay, but I'll get to the bottom of it. You sure you're ok with her staying?" He asked but Shay just shook her head.

"Kelly, she's your sister. Plus, it'll just be like old times." Shay smiled and let him pass as she returned to the rec room. "See you at home?"

"Yeah, we'll be a little while." Kelly said as he moved towards the locker room. Shay was definitely not lying when she said that everyone was already talking.

As he entered the locker room, he was met with questions from his crew mates. Some asking why he didn't tell them she was back, why was she so shy and flinching all the time and from the newer team members, who actually was she?

"Alright guys." Kelly said silencing the locker room. "I appreciate your concern but I would like to also ask for your respect. I know a few of you remember when Ebony used to hang around here and you're desperate to catch up with her." He looked over at Herrmann particularly.

"But I am just as clueless as you right now. So please trust me to get to the bottom of this. However," He looked once more at Herrmann "I've been told that we're having a belated 21st birthday party at Molly's tonight for Ebony. So I hope to see you all there to give a big 51 welcome back to my kid sister!"

There were nods of agreement and the guys patted Kelly on the back as they left the locker room, promising to see them both in a few hours. Kelly opened his locker door and looked at the pictures he had pinned up; there was one of them with their mum and then one of just him and Ebony on her 16th birthday and another on her 18th. Ebony had come to live with Kelly just before her 15th birthday. How much had changed in that time was insane and as he looked fondly at the photos, his mind wandered to the absence of their father.

Benny Severide was a difficult man, who he had just managed to get back in contact with after 6 years, maybe longer; Kelly didn't really want to think about it. Benny and Ebony's relationship was turmoil to say the least and until recently, his had been the same. He still didn't trust Benny but he supposed that he needed to try; he was his old man after all. But thinking about it, he wasn't sure how Ebony would respond to Benny being around.

************** FLASHBACK **************

 _Kelly was getting fed up of seeing the same white walls. During his mother's illness, she had managed to avoid spending too much time in the hospital, but now things had gotten worse and her admission had been unavoidable. They had been fortunate enough to have a private room, for which Kelly was grateful. He looked over at Ebony, who was curled up on the bed with their mother. The 14 year old had barely left their mothers side since she had been admitted into the hospital a month ago. Kelly was thankful that it was the summer holidays as he was sure that child services would have been breathing down their necks about truancy._

 _At 20 years old, Kelly was shadowing at Firehouse 51 as he awaiting his 21_ _st_ _birthday and admittance into the CFD academy. He was desperately trying to juggle his career and caring for their mother and to be quite honest, he'd been selfishly relieved when she had asked to be admitted to the hospital. Not to mention, he was also trying to look after his kid sister who had become a mute since their mother's admission apart from when she cried out in the midst of a nightmare._

 _Their mother gasped for air and started to cough, stirring Kelly from his thoughts and bringing Ebony out of her slumber also. Ebony shrieked as she woke and gripped her mother tightly as if she was trying to stop her from falling from a ledge._

 _"Mum?" Ebony whimpered, the first thing she'd uttered for a while._

 _"Ebs come away" Kelly tried to keep his voice calm but the fear was threatening to break through. He dived outside of the room and called for help as his mothers coughing got worse._

 _"EBONY GET AWAY!" Kelly shouted this time as he saw his sister was still clinging to his mother as help rushed passed him. She was so reluctant to move that Kelly actually pulled her away and it wasn't until he saw the silent tears on her face that he realised his sister had been paralysed with fear._

 _They were both ushered out of the room by the nurses as their mothers heart rate declined and before their knew it, a code blue had been called. Ebony clung onto Kelly for dear life and Kelly returned the embrace also, unsure of what was going on and frightened of what would happen next._

 _As he sat beside his sister outside the room, he realised that he was supposed to be at the firehouse soon. He pulled out his phone and dialled Chief Boden. He talked quietly into the phone, uttering his apologies and promising he would be there as soon as he found out what was going on and someone to look after Ebony._

 _The chief had been very understanding on the phone and for that, Kelly was grateful. Once he put the phone down, he reached for his sister and pulled her close. Kelly rested his chin on the top of Ebony's head and felt his own silent tears threatening to fall. As he gently stroked Ebony's hair, he became lost in his thoughts about how they were going to cope once their mother died. He was foolish to think that their mother would be with them for much longer but there was so much that Kelly needed to arrange; there was no way that he'd be able to stay in their house on his salary, they'd have to move somewhere closer; that meant that Ebony would have to move schools; and on top of that, there was the funeral arrangements and the cost._

 _The financial implications caused Kelly to begin to panic, he hoped that his mother had some sort of life insurance to help with the costs since their father was gone. The thought of Benny Severide made Kelly's blood boil. He'd been desperate to reach the man for months when their mother fell ill, but he'd never heard from him._

 _Kelly was stirred from his thoughts when two men approached the Severide siblings. "How are you doing Kelly?" Chief Boden smiled sympathetically as he approached with Christopher Herrmann by his side._

 _"Chief!" Kelly stood up abruptly, causing Ebony to jump._

 _"At ease Severide, you nearly scared the young lady." Herrmann put his hand up warily, the pair of them looked so tired and gaunt. "And who is this lovely thing?" He asked, crouching down to speak to Ebony and smiling warmly._

 _Kelly watched as Herrmann tried to coax a response out of his sister, albeit unsuccessful. "This is Herrmann, he works at firehouse 51 and this is Chief Boden, my boss." Kelly introduced hoping that that would encourage the girl to talk._

 _"You can call me Christopher if you'd like, a sweet young thing like you shouldn't call me by my surname." Herrmann smiled._

 _"I'm Ebony." Ebony said quietly and tried to return the smile. Herrmann held out his hand, of which she gingerly took, and greeted the child as if she were a princess._

 _"What can I do for you chief?" Kelly asked quickly, "Do you need me at the firehouse? I just need to find someone to watch Ebs and then I can be right there."_

 _"Kelly stop." Boden said firmly and placed his hands on the young mans shoulders to calm him. "We are here to support you. Both of you."_

 _Ebony looked up at the interaction between her brother and his boss, she'd heard a great deal about this Chief Boden from her brother and when their father had still been around. She had always been confused by the opposite descriptions of the same man, but now saw the kindness her brother had described as true._

 _"Thank you Chief Boden." Ebony said softly, causing both men to look at her and smile. "Please don't cry Kelly. We'll be ok." She continued and stood up to hug her brother._

 _Kelly clung on to Ebony as if they were about to be forced apart. He had been strong for so long when it had only been the two of them but now that they had the support of Boden and Herrmann, it felt like a weight had been lifted from him._

 _"Why don't we go and get you something to eat?" Herrmann said, "You don't look like you've eaten in a week!" With that, Herrmann headed off to purchase food and Boden tried to get an update on Mrs Severide. However, before long the medical staff came out of their mother's room with grave expressions on their faces._

 _"What's happened?" Ebony was on her feet quicker than Kelly could comprehend that they had left their mothers room. "Can we see her now?" Ebony continued when she was met by silence._

 _'Typical' Kelly thought, 'the girl hasn't spoken for weeks and now she won't let the people bringing news talk!'._

 _"Ebony." He hissed._

 _"I'm sorry." The doctor began, she looked nervous and young. "But we did all that we could."_

 _Ebony didn't need to hear anymore, she howled as if her heart was being ripped from her chest. Boden rushed forward and caught the girl as her knees buckled. Kelly remained perfectly still in shock, their mother had died and so suddenly. They hadn't even had the opportunity to say goodbye._

 _"Kelly." Herrmann placed a comforting hand on Kelly's shoulder, when had he returned? "Let the tears fall." He said quietly, letting the young man know that it was ok to show his grief._

 _Kelly looked over to Ebony, who was sobbing into the chief's chest. He needed to take the blubbering girl off the chief, she was his responsibility now. Yet he felt like he couldn't move and instead met Boden's eyes. The older man nodded his head in understanding and pulled Kelly into his arms also, allowing Kelly to receive comfort as well as providing it for his sister._

 _In that moment, everything changed and firehouse 51 became their family._

************** END OF FLASHBACK **************

Shaking his head clear of the memory, Kelly picked up his bag and shut his locker, leaving to find Ebony. Ebony was still sat at the table, with her head thrown back to look up at the ceiling. She was so deep in thought that she hadn't notice him creep up until he had leaned over into her field of view.

"You still do that then?" He smiled as she stood up.

"Yeah, it helps me think." Ebony responded as she followed him out to his car.

It hadn't taken long for them to drive across town to the storage unit. Ebony had her hand dangling out of the car window, moving gently in the breeze. Her eyes were closed and she was singing softly to the radio, thoroughly enjoying the moment.

Ebony had enjoyed living in the UK, there was no denying that. Even in the dark winters and rainy summers, she'd loved the experience of living abroad and making new friends. Friends, she thought suddenly. She was going to miss the ones she had made at university, a few more than others. All of a sudden, Ebony was overwhelmed with grief and a tear escaped through her closed eyes.

"Hey, you ok kiddo?" Kelly asked suddenly, seeing the tear.

"Yeah." Ebony said softly and paused for a moment. Her brother's silence was all too familiar to Ebony; it meant that he wanted her to continue. With a sigh she said, "I'm just going to miss my friends back in England."

"You can always go and visit them" Kelly smiled as they pulled into the car park of the storage place.

"Yeah, maybe once I've got some money behind me." Ebony said, deflecting from her true thoughts. 'But I'll never be able to see Steven or Caz again' She thought glumly but hid it with a plastered smile as she directed her brother to her storage unit.

"Wow, you didn't come back with much." Kelly noted as he looked into the small storage unit.

"Well, I did say that." Ebony smirked, but he was right. "Come on, let's get out of here." She said grabbing a couple of boxes and heading out to his car.

It had not taken long to load Kelly's car. Ebony had given back the key to the storage unit manager and had to drag her brother away as he argued for her to get her money back.

Just 30 minutes later, they were stood in the middle of Kelly's spare room unpacking her boxes and chatting happily. As Kelly went to unpack one of the boxes, he found a photo frame.

"I should have been there for this." He said sadly, tracing the picture with his finger. He stood the frame up on the bureau and stepped back to look at it. It was a picture of Ebony holding a graduation scroll in her full gown, smiling happily. He was so proud of her and what she had achieved.

"It's ok Kelly, I never asked you to come over." Kelly looked down to see his sister had hugged him around his waist and wriggled under his arm.

He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head, "But I should have remembered and come over."

"Should have, could have, would have." Ebony sighed, "Unless you have a time machine, let it go."

Kelly looked at his sister suspiciously but before he could reply, Shay interrupted them. "Come on guys, it's nearly time to leave for Molly's!"

"Has she always been this hyper?" Ebony asked raising an eyebrow at her brother.

"Oh yes, I'm surprised you had forgotten. I really wish she wasn't so damn bouncy all the time though." Kelly laughed and they heard a muffled 'I heard that' come from the living room. "I'll leave you to get ready."


	3. Chapter 3

Chicago Fire fanfiction

Chapter 3 –

Molly's was the busiest it had been for a while, for that the owners were thankful. With all the business with McLeod and her budget cuts, it was great to have some fun for a change. The crew of truck 81 and squad 3 had all turned out to wish Ebony Severide a belated 21st birthday. The drinks were flowing and the atmosphere was happy, it was a relief to all the firefighters to just have a chance to relax.

Cindy Herrmann had come down to celebrate, having helped Kelly raise the adolescent girl when she had come to live with him. Ebony greeted her warmly and chatted excitedly about how her children were growing up, especially number 5.

"It's just nice to get out of the house and away from the screaming." Cindy laughed as she sipped at her wine. "And what's nicer is Christopher is driving!"

"Amen to that!" Ebony cheered and clinked glasses with Cindy.

"Are you alcohol-less Miss Severide?" Shay asked coming over and noticing Ebony's diet coke.

"Just for a bit Shay, need to pace myself you know" Ebony winked and nodded towards her older brother who was keeping a watchful eye on her.

"You know how protective he is." Cindy commented waving at Kelly, causing him to look away quickly.

"I know, but I'm not his responsibility anymore. I've been living in England on my own for 3 years." Ebony sighed.

"Yeah and we haven't heard a peep out of you in that time." Shay said as she sat down next to Cindy, placing a tray down with her.

"What is this? An intervention?" Ebony laughed,

"No, but we've been worried. Once a member of 51, always a member of 51; we're one big happy dysfunctional family!" Shay smiled handing Ebony a shot of vodka and nodding for her to drink.

A quick clink of shot glasses and they were down the hatch; Ebony shook her head as she felt the familiar burn. "It never gets better." Cindy laughed, coughing slightly.

"At least it's not tequila! This one bar in England, it cost like £1 a shot, so like a dollar seventy and we'd just drink all night." Ebony laughed and she continued to gossip with Shay and Cindy.

"So how was England?" Cindy asked, "Were there any special boys?"

"Or girls?" Shay quipped and Cindy smirked.

"Not really." Ebony shied, not wanting to get into the topic. "I don't think we should really talk about my love life or lack thereof. But England was good." Ebony offered.

"What with all that rain?" Cindy mocked playfully.

"Sure beat the wind and snow here." Ebony laughed. "Things were pretty cheap over there and the whole uni thing is so different to colleges over here. You learn hard and then you play harder."

"That's my girl" Shay laughed and hugged Ebony's shoulders as they continued chatting.

Kelly stood leaning against the bar watching his sister chat with the girls, she definitely seemed less jumpy now; maybe she was getting used to how many people she had in her life in Chicago. He couldn't comprehend how much his kid sister had grown up in 3 years, she was now a graduate with a bachelor's degree and back to look for a research job. Kelly's mind boggled, he had never excelled academically and was more brawn than anything else, but Ebony had always been so eager to learn.

"I can't believe how much she's grown up" Chief Boden joined Kelly, handing him a scotch. "Seems like just yesterday that she was doing her homework in the rec room or when she used to hide behind you at the firefighters bbq; she must have only been young when I first met her, back when your parents were still together." The Chief recalled.

"Yeah I remember. Benny dragged her and our mom to one of the BBQ's in an attempt to show everyone that he had the perfect family" Kelly sighed at the memory. 'How much things changed' he thought solemnly. Ebony had been 10 when Benny had dragged her to their first family BBQ, Kelly had been going to them for as long as he could remember but for some reason their father had not wanted his daughter to follow. One year he had got sick of everyone asking where his wife and daughter were so brought them to the BBQ, it was then that Ebony had met the chief for the first time. Although, it later transpired that she had no recollection of the meeting with Boden and had tried to change the subject whenever Kelly brought it up.

Kelly wracked his memory as to a reason why Ebony had not wanted to speak of it, had there been some sort of argument between her and Benny afterwards? He had never taken her to another BBQ for the next few years before he abandoned them, what had the reason been?

"You figure it out yet?" Boden asked, in a fatherly way more than anything and rousing Kelly from his thoughts.

"Not yet chief but I have my suspicions." Kelly turned around to face the bar. He'd spotted that she'd chosen a dress with long sleeves and he hoped that it didn't mean what it used to. He shook his head, "Maybe we should give her the benefit of the doubt and not jump to conclusions; it's been a long time."

Boden simply nodded in agreement with the young lieutenant before making his excuses and departing. It wasn't long until Shay came and joined him at the bar to order more drinks. "Don't worry, Ebony only wants a diet coke." Shay laughed

"Is she ok?" Kelly asked and Shay knew that he wasn't referring to right this minute.

"She's fine, leave her alone. You know Kelly, she's changed. She was bound to." Shay explained, "I know you have a bad feeling, but she'll come to you if she needs to."

Kelly smiled at Shay's intuition and followed her over to the table. "Please excuse me, I need to go and pester my husband." Cindy giggled as Kelly handed her another class of wine.

"How many has she had?" He laughed as Cindy staggered towards the bar.

"Too many for her, but only a couple I think." Ebony smiled as her brother sat down next to him.

"You having a good time kiddo?" Kelly asked her seriously as he swirled his scotch around in the glass.

"Yeah" Ebony smiled and leaned against her brother's shoulder, "I've missed you"

"I've missed you too Ebby." He kissed the top of her head and sighed contently, happy to have his sister home with him again.

"I'll leave you guys to it." Shay smiled and put a hand on Kelly's shoulder as she went.

"You don't have..." He tried to argue but it fell on death ears as Shay skipped off to find Dawson.

The Severide siblings sat together for a while just enjoying the company. It had been a nice evening celebrating with the firehouse but in all honesty, the number of people who had suddenly reappeared in her life was overwhelming. Ebony wasn't sure how she was feeling, especially how things had ended in England and now coming back to Chicago. But she had been ok before and she knew that she would be ok again, especially with Kelly's support; even if she didn't want to rely on him.

*********** FLASHBACK ***********

 _Ebony got out of the passenger seat of Kelly's car clutching a rucksack and her childhood teddy bear. It was little over a week since their mother had died, they hadn't even had the funeral yet, but here they were downsizing from their home to a tiny apartment._

 _Since the youngster could barely sleep in the house without crying for their mother, Kelly had made the bold decision to move out immediately and put the house up on the market. Fortunately, it hadn't been too long before they had had interest in the property and by the end of the next week, all the documents would be complete. Now it was time for the Severide siblings to be out on their own._

" _It's not much at the moment but it will do for now." Kelly tried to lift his sister's spirits as they both looked around the tiny apartment. It only had one bedroom but with Kelly's apprentice and academy wage, it was all that they could afford. "The start of a new chapter for us as our own little family. As soon as I graduate the academy, we'll find somewhere better but for now this will be our home."_

 _Kelly wasn't sure how Boden had done it, but he'd been admitted into the fire academy early and it couldn't have come at a better time. A small increase in salary was seen and the hours, for the immediate future, would help settle Ebony into her new city centre life._

" _So how will this work?" Ebony asked quietly._

" _What do you mean kiddo?" Kelly asked as he turned to his sister, who looked so small and fragile stood in the doorway._

" _Well there's only one bedroom, so I guess that means that I'm on the couch?" Ebony asked, nervously looking around the apartment._

" _No, you have the bedroom." Kelly answered seriously._

 _"Are we sharing it?" Ebony blinked._

" _Nope." Kelly grinned as his sister blinked at him again, surprise etching across her face. "We'll share a wardrobe in there but you need a space to study…"_

" _But so do you…" Ebony tried to interrupt but Kelly placed a finger on her lips._

" _There's nothing more to say on the matter Ebs." Kelly smiled. "Now, the removal van won't get here until tomorrow so what do you say to sleeping bags on the floor and a takeaway?"_

 _Ebony stepped further into the room and surveyed the space before reaching into her rucksack and pulling out a picture frame. In the centre of the room was an electric fire with a mantelpiece, which was perfect for her photograph._

As she set it down in the middle of the mantelpiece, Kelly came to stand behind her to see what she was putting on display. A lump caught in his throat as he saw that it was a photograph of their mother, whose features he saw every day in his sister.

" _It's perfect." He whispered, not sure if Ebony could even hear him._

 _As Ebony nodded in agreement, she threw herself into Kelly's waist. "Thank you Kelly, for everything." She murmured and Kelly kissed the top of her head._

*********** END OF FLASHBACK ***********

Herrmann and Kelly's speeches hadn't been too long, which was fortunate for a very exhausted Ebony. Too much excitement and a fair amount of alcohol had seen Ebony fall asleep in the taxi back to their apartment. Kelly had effortlessly carried her into her room and laid her down on her bed, remembering fondly the first time she had fallen asleep on the sofa in their first apartment and he had carried the tiny girl to her bed. He smiled as Ebony looked just as lost in the big bed now as she had done back then. He wondered for a moment if he should change her into her pyjamas, but remembered that she was a young woman now and probably wouldn't appreciate her big brother changing her.

He crouched down and gently spoke to her, "Ebby, you need to wake up hunny." Ebony slowly opened her eyes and smiled sleepily at her brother. "Hey you. We're home now; do you want some help getting into your pyjamas?"

"I'm ok." Ebony started to get up and headed to her suitcase which still needed to be unpacked, in search of pyjamas.

"I'll leave you to it." Kelly went towards the door, but was stopped when Ebony spoke.

"Hey Kelly? Thank you for everything. I'll sort myself out soon I promise." Ebony smiled sleepily.

"Don't even mention it baby girl, you're my sister and my best friend. But we'll catch up and chat tomorrow." Kelly smiled and turned on the bedside lamp before coming over to Ebony and kissing her on the top of her head and then leaving the room.

Ebony sighed as she put on her pyjamas and climbed into bed. She relaxed into the bed and enjoyed the comfort; it was the same bed that Kelly had bought for her when they had moved into their first apartment to replace the falling apart single bed she had always had. It was little things like this that had made her miss America and the way that Kelly kissed her on the head before she went to sleep.

Before she had moved to university, Ebony had spent every shift (when not at school) at the station with Kelly. The perk of him having a lieutenant's office was that she could curl up in his office and he could still sleep out in the main quarters. When she had moved to England, it was the first time she'd slept without him in the same city (when on a job) or in the next room. But now he was just next door and for the first time in three years, she felt truly comfortable and safe.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Ebony was awake by 5am; she'd barely got 4 hours sleep. She sighed angrily, she needed the sleep but too many things were running through her head at the moment. Frustrated that she couldn't get back to sleep, Ebony got out of bed and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. She padded lightly through the apartment, noting that Kelly and Shay's rooms were upstairs so she wouldn't be disturbing them too much.

On her return, she decided to unpack the rest of her belongings. She found her ipod and popped it into the docking station that Kelly already had in the room. Ebony flicked through a few songs until she found a particularly meaningful one; she made sure that the volume was low before standing in the middle of the room and looking up to the ceiling. Ebony closed her eyes and listened to the lyrics, singing to them softly and rocking on her toes.

 _So hang on, be strong_ _  
_ _Long live the kids in us all_ _  
_ _Pride may fail us_ _  
_ _But god we will die trying_ _  
_ _Hang on, be strong_ _  
_ _Long live the kids in us all_ _  
_ _Fate may cheat us_ _  
_ _But God we will die trying_

As the song progressed and many more followed, Ebony regained her focus and took to the task at hand. She placed her clothes in the bureau, put her books on the shelving and her photo frames around the room. Ebony smiled to herself as she marvelled at the size of her new room. It was a far cry from their pokey apartment when they first moved in together. She'd liked their second place, especially when Shay moved in, but this place was something else. However, it still needed some personalisation.

Ebony was so involved in her task that she didn't notice that Kelly was standing in her doorway. As she danced around her room, still singing, she dropped the book that she had in her hand when she saw her brother. Had she left the door open? How long had he been there?

Seeing the panic in her eyes, he came into the room and picked up the book. Handing it back to her, he asked "Couldn't sleep?" Ebony simply shook her head as she went to place the book on the bookshelf. Kelly smiled slightly as he came into the room to see his sister in a pair of leggings and one of his old CFD t-shirts; it was still like a tent on her 5 years later.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" She asked nervously. She looked over at the dock and saw that it was nearly 8am, had she really been doing this for 3 hours?

"Not at all, you know I'm an early riser." Kelly smiled, "I saw that your door was open, so I came to check on you. It was nice to hear you singing."

"I don't sing anymore." Ebony said sharply and Kelly recoiled slightly, that certainly wasn't the response he was expecting.

Ever since she was small, she'd loved to sing. Kelly had sat for hours listening to her and she'd even joined a band when she turned 16; they'd had a few gigs and Kelly had chaperoned some of them. He was in awe of her talent; she was academic and had such a beautiful voice. Kelly just had his muscle, but it had allowed him to achieve his dream of working for the CFD.

Seeing Kelly recoil caused Ebony to feel bad for snapping at him, "Sorry." She said sheepishly.

"Forget it." Kelly said standing up again, "Do you want some coffee?" He was trying to lift the mood; he didn't like this new Ebony. He wanted his sweet and innocent little sister back, the one who used to be so chirpy. Ebony was now a shadow of her former self and Kelly was determined to get to the bottom of things.

"Yes please." Ebony smiled, she was internally cursing herself. Her façade was really starting to crack around Kelly. She'd never been very good at hiding things from him, she knew it wouldn't be long until he knew the truth.

Ebony turned off her music and followed Kelly into the kitchen; she sat on a breakfast stool and watched him wander around putting on the coffee. It was only then that she noticed that he was shirtless; she was suddenly conscious of her own outfit and dashed out of the kitchen back to her room. Kelly noticed her run out in panic; he waited for a moment for her to return, he prayed that his suspicions wouldn't be true.

But unfortunately, his sister wasn't doing anything to deny his suspicious; she had returned in a hoodie, feverishly clenching her sleeve cuffs. She had previously been in a short sleeved top and now Kelly knew that he needed to talk to her, but how was he going to do it? It had been 3 years since he'd had to deal with this and it had nearly killed him then. She'd disappeared to England shortly after and it had terrified him but he had to let her go and she had seemed happy over there. All her facebook photos were of her smiling and having a good time; in sleeveless tops. She'd been confident up until her return to Chicago, something must have happened in between her graduation and returning to him.

"We need to talk kiddo." Kelly said seriously as he handed her a cup of coffee in her favourite mug.

Ebony looked at the mug; it was a photograph of her, Kelly and their mum. She wrapped her hands around the mug as if she had just come in from the cold and smiled weakly up at Kelly. Kelly had been in this position before and it was killing him having to be here again, but he loved his sister and she needed him; whether she told him directly or not.

"I'm not mad at you." Kelly broke the silence between them. He moved to lift Ebony's chin up to look him in the eyes, but he recoiled when she flinched.

"I'm sorry." Ebony muttered, Kelly swept around the kitchen counter and threw his arms around her as if she was about to fall. He didn't care if she was flinching; he was going to hold her until she let the tears flow.

"Shhhh" Kelly soothed and stroked her hair lightly. He put his lips to the top of her head and held them there as he felt his own tears threaten to fall. His eyes darted to the left when he saw Shay coming down the stairs, he panicked slightly and hoped that she would not catch Ebony's attention. Shay looked at him and knew that she needed to leave, she silently grabbed her gym bag from the floor and left. Kelly nodded to her slightly as she left and made a mental note to thank her later.

Kelly could feel hot tears falling onto his chest and he let his own flow at that moment too. He let go of her but moved to hold her head so that she was looking straight at him with no deviation. "I am here for you. I have always been here and I always will be." Kelly said to her, both of them allowing their tears to flow. "but you have to talk to me."

Ebony could only nod. Kelly eventually let go of her head, she was about to reach for her coffee when he picked it up for her and beckoned her to follow him to the sofa. She followed him slowly and sat on the sofa beside him, thankful that she could finally have her coffee.

"Was it so bad in England?" Kelly asked after he had allowed her to take a sip of coffee.

"No. I had a great time; I wouldn't have changed it for the world." Ebony smiled weakly, but sensing that her big brother was about to do his trademark 'I'll make you uncomfortable by not responding at all, so that you have to talk', Ebony continued. "I made friends, played sport, got top marks. It was great and I miss it."

"What happened?" Kelly prompted.

"We'd graduated and I'd secured a graduate job in London, as had some of my friends. My friends Steven, Caz and I were taking a road trip around some of the sites before moving down to London together. Steven was driving when a lorry overturned on the motorway in front of us. There was nothing we could do." Ebony started into her coffee cup for a moment before looking up at Kelly.

"They were dead shortly after impact, I was in the back. I walked away with just cuts and bruises. A scar or two but that's it." Ebony began to sob harder and Kelly placed the mug on the table before it fell. Once more he gathered his baby sister in his arms and hugged her tight.

No one should have to lose a friend like that and certainly not at such a young age. His heart broke as he thought about how much pain the girl had gone through in her short life; it wasn't fair. "I've got you." Kelly whispered.

"I should have died with them; I don't deserve to be alive, not without them!" Ebony sobbed harder, hyperventilating as she did.

"Never say that. It's tough losing a friend but you have to keep living for them!" He soothed her back but there was nothing that Kelly could do to console her.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! Please leave me a lovely review :)**

 **The song quoted in this chapter is 'long live the kids' by We are the in Crowd.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Kelly had sat with Ebony in his arms for most of the morning. His heart broke as his little sister grieved for her two friends. "How long ago was this?" Kelly had finally asked,

"About a month now. I went to their funerals and then came straight back to Chicago." Ebony said sitting up and reaching for her coffee, feeling embarrassed for crying into her brother's chest so much.

"I want you to tell me honestly Ebby," Kelly said looking at her seriously, "Are you ok?"

Ebony took a moment to think about her answer. She wasn't ok, it was plain to see but there was another question tucked inside Kelly's question. He wanted to know if she was feeling down, low, depressed, whatever you wanted to describe it as. Could she really tell Kelly that what he feared was a reality? She couldn't put him through that again. But looking at him now, there was no way to lie to him.

"No, that's why I came back." She answered eventually.

"And the flinching?" Kelly asked and Ebony cursed her brothers confrontational manner.

"Some stuff went on in a nightclub a few months ago. Someone grabbed me…" Ebony heard Kelly take in a deep breath but she continued before he could say something. "No, nothing like that. I mean it wasn't far off, but luckily my friends intercepted. So I've been a bit jumpy since and then the whole crash thing…"

Kelly nodded, glad that Ebony was being honest with him. "We'll get you through this, I promise." Kelly pulled Ebony into yet another hug.

"Thanks Kelly." Ebony smiled at him. "But enough about me! What's been going on with you?"

"Not much, same old same old." Kelly smiled, he didn't need to burden his sister with what had happened. He didn't know how to tell her that Andy Darden had died, he had been like a brother to her too. Kelly and Andy had been best friends since kindergarden, so he had been a constant figure in her life too; how could Kelly tell her that he had died a couple of years after she had left? Then there was his shoulder issue and Renee and the baby. No, he needed to focus on his sister.

"Oh really." Ebony raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously.

"Chicago's boring remember." Kelly shrugged.

"But your life is never boring. Between your job and your endless amounts of women…" Ebony laughed.

"Hey!" Kelly threw a cushion at her, "I don't need that from you. My love life or lack thereof is none of your business"

"Whatever you say." Ebony threw the cushion back at him, "But I know stuff has gone on, I spoke to Shay fairly regularly."

"What did she tell you?" Kelly paused for a moment, what had Shay told his little sister and why didn't he know that they were in contact?

"I know all about the baby thing with Shay" Ebony laughed

"Oh that" Kelly laughed too, a little nervously but thankful that Shay hadn't told her about Renee "Yeah, that was a crazy time…"

Kelly and Ebony had had a pleasant morning, chatting about nothing in particular and just enjoying each other's company whilst slobbing around in their pyjamas. Kelly had caught her up on Shay's baby plans and Ebony had explained some of her facebook pictures to him.

Kelly was incredibly proud of his little sister; she had made so many friends in England and she looked to have had a great time. Eventually, a growl from Kelly's stomach saw Ebony offer to make lunch as Kelly picked a movie that they could watch together that afternoon.

As Kelly stretched, he heard a knock at the door. He went to answer it, trying to remember if they were expecting someone. When he opened the door, he hadn't expected to find Benny Severide stood on his doorstep.

"Hey son, thought I could come over since it's your day off and have a chat. I brought beers." Benny said cheerfully, walking straight past Kelly and towards the kitchen.

"Dad!" Kelly shouted trying to stop Benny as he headed towards the kitchen.

"Dad?" Ebony repeated and turned around to see Benny Severide looking just as shocked as she was.

"Ebony?" Benny looked as his daughter with a mixed of shock, confusion and then rising anger. "What are you doing here?" He said with malice but only enough for Ebony to detect.

"I should ask the same of you." Ebony said in an even tone.

"Remember who you're talking to girl." Benny snarled.

"Enough." Kelly said, trying to stop the tension from escalating. "Dad, Ebony has just finished university. She's come back to look for work…"

Benny interrupted Kelly, "Can't even find a job after college?"

"I had a job thank you." Ebony said bitterly, "Circumstances brought me back to Chicago." Being in the same room as the man infuriated her to no end, why was he back in Kelly's life? He hadn't been there when their mother had died and even signed custody of her over to Kelly. As far as Ebony was concerned, he'd given up the right to be their father.

"And what might those be?" Benny narrowed his eyes at his daughter and Kelly couldn't believe the animosity between them.

"The pair of you quit it!" Kelly snapped. "Dad now is not a great time. We'll hang out another day."

"Fine." Benny said, snatching up his beer and leaving quickly; slamming the door as he went.

"What is he doing back?" Ebony snarled, the sight of him had made her blood boil and then the way he spoke to her? Ebony couldn't believe that Kelly would want anything to do with him.

"I needed some help a while back and we sort of got to know each other again." Kelly muttered, he felt the anger in his sister's stare. Kelly knew that he should have spoken to Ebony first, but he hadn't expected Benny to turn up like that.

"You went to HIM!?" Ebony couldn't believe it, "You could have gone to anyone! The chief was more of a father to us than that man!"

"You don't know anything about the situation Ebony." Kelly said sharply, he could understand his sister's anger but he wasn't going to be lectured by a 21 year old. "My job was on the line."

Ebony studied her brother for a minute; it must have been a pretty big deal for him to have gone to Benny. What was this about his job being in jeopardy? That wasn't like Kelly at all. "What happened?" Ebony asked

"Another time." Kelly brushed off, which annoyed Ebony somewhat. If it was important enough to bring Benny into it, surely she should know?

"Fine, but if you want me to open up then you had better do the same." Ebony said, retreating to her room.

"Ebby" Kelly called after her, but it fell on deaf ears. He knew he should be honest with her but he wanted to be strong for her. If he told her his problems, it would be a sign of weakness and she didn't need weak people in her life. He couldn't tell her about how his shoulder injury had nearly driven him to accidental opiate overdose and could have compromised his colleagues. On the other hand, what use would he have been to Ebony without a job?

Kelly sat at the breakfast bar with his head in his hands. He couldn't understand himself sometimes; he had vowed to always be honest with Ebony. Since she had moved away, he hadn't spoken to her as often. It wasn't that he didn't want to, at first it was just the time difference between them and then they just drifted as she flourished in England. He couldn't blame her at all, if anything he should have pushed to speak to her more or even drop her a text, better still he should have visited. How was he going to fix this?

*********** FLASHBACK ***********

 _It was a beautiful autumnal day when they buried their mother, that time where summer fell away and the days were getting shorter. It was a mild temperature and the world felt perfectly still. Today was too beautiful for a funeral._

 _Ebony and Kelly had been dreading the day that they had to say goodbye to their mother, it had barely been a week since they had moved out of their childhood home and now they were stood beside their mother's grave as she was committed to the ground._

 _Kelly held Ebony tight to his side as the funeral was conducted, it had been a small gathering but Kelly hadn't been able to recognise who had turned up and who hadn't. However, Ebony had noticed that there was one person missing; their father._

" _Where's dad?" Ebony asked quietly whilst she and Kelly stood thanking guests. There had been their neighbours, work colleagues and of course Kelly's best friend Andy Darden and his family, but no sign of Benny Severide._

" _I don't know. I left like a dozen messages." Kelly sighed, no doubt Benny was with his new family now and that hurt._

" _How are you both holding up?" Chief Boden smiled warmly as he shook Kelly's hand, rousing him from his stewing over their father._

" _We're getting by, thanks chief." Kelly was surprised to see his mentor and boss at the funeral._

" _Thank you for coming sir, you must be so busy." Ebony greeted the chief also and noted that he was in his CFD uniform. "There was probably no need."_

" _Nonsense sweetheart. I've known your mother since before you were born and your father since the academy. There was no way I was missing this. Besides, you're part of the 51 family and we support each other." The chief said sincerely, looking at Kelly and then to Ebony. "Is there no sign of your father?"_

" _No." Ebony hissed, "Probably a good thing too." Ebony was angry, how dare her father not turn up to his wife's funeral. She knew he was with another family now but he had spent over 20 years with their mother, how could he not show up to say goodbye? Ebony knew deep down that her father wouldn't be there, but a small part of her had hoped that he would show up to support Kelly. She couldn't care less about him being there for her, he hated her, but Kelly was his pride and joy and he had just lost his mother._

" _Ebony" Kelly tried to chastise but Boden raised his hand to stop Kelly. As Kelly then looked down at Ebony, he could see that she was on the verge of tears both of anger and sadness and with that, he pulled her into his side tightly._

" _I best be going but your brothers at firehouse 51 look forward to welcoming you back soon." Boden turned slightly and the siblings saw a line of trucks parked along the road near the cemetery; engine, truck and squad all with their crew stood stoically watching._

 _Kelly raised his hand to wave to their new family and thanked the chief again. His father my not have shown to their mother's funeral, but at least he had the support of 51 and CFD; he was going to need it._

*********** END OF FLASHBACK ***********

In her room, Ebony was angry. Scratch that, she was seething. She couldn't believe that Benny Severide had wormed his way back in, she had not seen him since before their mother had died. Benny hadn't even attended her funeral, he wasn't there whilst she was sick, he was absent and that was what got to Ebony so much. He'd never been much of a father to her and Ebony could forgive his absence if he had been their when his wife was dying.

With this in mind, she reached for her ipod, popped in her headphones and shuffled it; she needed to dance this out or she was going to go crazy.

 _ **I try to make it through my life,**_ _ **  
**_ _ **In my way, there's you**_ _ **  
**_ _ **I try to make it through these lies,**_ _ **  
**_ _ **And that's all I do**_

The song captured the mood well and she began to pick up the pace of her dancing. She sang softly to the lyrics, keeping quiet so that Kelly would not hear her and then the chorus started.

 _ **If you were dead or still alive,**_ _ **  
**_ _ **I don't care, I don't care**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Just go and leave this all behind,**_ _ **  
**_ _ **'cause I swear, (I swear) I don't care**_

As the music continued, Ebony began to feel herself calm and return to rational thought. She no longer wanted to punch something, which was a good thing she reasoned. Ebony had decided that she would go to Chief Boden and discuss this, she knew that he would be honest with her.

 **The song quoted in this chapter is I don't care by apocalyptica.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 –

"Ebony, what can I do for you?" Chief Boden smiled as Ebony knocked on his office door.

"Hey chief" Ebony returned the smile and paused, "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course you can! Take a seat." Boden pointed to the seat in front of his desk and leant back, folding his arms as he did so.

"Thanks." Ebony shut the door gently and sat down in front of the chief, she took a deep breath wondering where to start.

"What's Benny doing back here?" Ebony jumped straight in and Boden was taken aback by her abruptness.

"Have you seen him?" Boden asked, he could tell that she was angry with her father's return. "Who am I kidding, you must have seen him if you're this angry. How long ago?"

"A week ago." Ebony leaned back in her chair. "Kelly fed me some line about needing help when his job was on the line?"

"Ah." Was all the chief could say.

"How could he let that son of a bitch back into his life? Our lives?!" Ebony was getting irate. She was angry at the sudden appearance of their father, that had been the last thing that she had expected upon her return to Chicago.

"Calm down Ebony. Kelly hasn't told you about his injury has he?" Boden said quietly, but loud enough to stop Ebony in her tracks.

"What injury?" Ebony looked at Boden seriously, "Chief, what injury?"

"He should really be the one telling you this." Boden tried to deflect, he didn't want to betray Kelly's confidence.

"Chief, I'm not in the right headspace to speak to Kelly at the moment. Just tell me." Ebony answered truthfully before saying softly, "Please, I've always been able to rely on you for the truth." She hoped that would butter him up and it did.

"Hang on, are you not speaking to Kelly?" Boden asked curiously.

"I don't know chief. I'm just so angry that he's here. I haven't seen Benny since I was 14. I mean I know that Kelly never had a problem with him, but after everything he put me through…" Ebony trailed off spiking the chief's interest further.

"What does that mean?" Boden raised an eyebrow at the youngster.

"Nothing."

"Ebony." The chief challenged her, not in a threatening tone but in a supportive manner. "Sweetheart, I know that you have had a difficult relationship with Benny but is there more to this than we know?"

"Please leave it chief. I don't want to get into it." Ebony looked up directly into Boden's eyes before flicking them away. "Now please, what's this about Kelly being injured?"

"I won't go into details but he fractured his shoulder pretty badly. He went months without treatment, taking opiates on the side. It nearly cost him his job." Boden said slowly, he watched as Ebony process the information, determined not to forget that the previous conversation needed finishing.

"You're kidding me, right?" Ebony shouted, "Untreated? Opiates?"

"Calm down kiddo, it's sorted now." Boden said, "But for some reason Kelly sought out Benny."

"I don't get it; you've been more of a father to us than he ever was." Ebony tried to regain her composure. Since the day their mother had died, Boden had been there supporting her and Kelly. When the siblings had fought, Boden was their mediator. When Kelly had been stuck at the academy, needed to pick up extra shifts or just needed a break, Boden was there to look after her. He treated her as if she were his own.

"I don't know either sweetheart, but from what I can see Benny has been good for Kelly." Boden tried to reason but Ebony was suspicious.

"He was always good to Kelly anyway." Ebony responded flippantly

"Now that is the second time you've mentioned that and come to think of it, you have said it on and off for as long as I've known you. I think it's about time you offered me an explanation." Boden diverted back to the original conversation, but stopped when he saw Kelly opening his office door. "Kelly."

"Chief, I…" Kelly stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Ebony sitting in front of the chief.

"Ebony, so this is where you are. What are you doing here?" He asked, he hadn't seen her since that morning when she had made her excuses and left again. She'd been doing that ever since Benny had stopped by unexpectedly. Ebony had said that she was out looking for jobs, but he wasn't convinced that was the entire truth. Kelly knew she would take long walks when contemplating big events in her life, in the past he had always been with her but not this time apparently. Was she avoiding home to avoid running into Benny?

"Kelly, what can I do for you?" Boden asked his lieutenant, who had clearly had something important to say before stumbling upon his sister.

"I need to talk to you about this incident, with Shay. She's in a right state." Kelly said, concern plain across his face.

"Ebony can you give us some time please?" Boden asked and Ebony understood immediately. She too had noticed the change in Shay, but it was understandable considering she had been witness to a horrific suicide of a frequent flyer. Ebony nodded to the chief before heading off to seek out Shay.

It hadn't taken long to find her as the blond paramedic stocked up the ambulance following a recent call. "Hey you." Ebony smiled, climbing into the rig and sitting beside Shay as she did inventory.

"Hi" Shay nodded and asked Ebony to pass her the box of IV bags before speaking again. "What brings you here? You've been like a ghost since getting back, I've hardly seen you."

"I could say the same for you." Ebony argued playfully. "You're going out when I go to bed and you're going to bed when I'm up for breakfast. New club scene going on?" Ebony nodded to the wrist bands and stamp on Shay's hand.

"Yeah something like that." Shay shrugged off, "Look, I'm kind of busy."

"Yeah, yeah. I get the hint. You want to be on your own." Ebony sighed, jumping down from the rig. "But I remember someone making sure I had company when I was in that same place a while back."

Anger flashed across Shay's face suddenly, surprising Ebony but not as much as her snapping at her. "When I need the advice of some kid, I'll ask for it!"

"Shay!" Kelly exclaimed from behind Ebony, he'd appeared on the apparatus floor in time to hear the conversation and watch the sudden escalation.

"Just leave me the hell alone." Shay snapped again, causing Ebony to recoil.

"Hey baby." A woman called from the entrance to the engine bay. The raven haired woman had been hanging around their apartment for the last couple of days, was her name Bevan or something? Ebony wasn't sure but she knew that this chick was bad news. "I brought you lunch."

"Hey Devon." Shay smiled and hoped down from the rig, following Devon outside.

"I thought you said you were busy?" Ebony called after to Shay, only to be ignored.

"We need to keep an eye on her Kelly." Ebony said seriously as she watched Shay kiss Devon.

"I know." Kelly agreed but before he could say anything else, Ebony was also exiting the firehouse without saying another word to her brother. He sighed and wondered how long he would get the cold shoulder from her before they were able to actually talk things through.

As Ebony opened her bedroom door to make herself another cup of tea, she heard the sound of glass breaking. Something was going on and she knew she was the only one home. Pushing on through the apartment she was shocked to find 3 guys and Devon raiding them.

"What the hell?!" Ebony shouted loudly, not really thinking. Sure, Ebony hadn't really taken to Devon but she never thought she would do anything this dodgy.

"Fuck!" One of the men snarled, "What do we do with her now?"

"Rough her up!" Devon said hurriedly as she stuffed more of their valuables into a duffel bag.

"Night night princess." Someone said from her left before Ebony felt a blow to the head coupled with one to the stomach before being immersed in darkness.

Sometime later, Ebony could hear Shay asking her something but the world was too disorientated even behind her closed eyes. "Oh my god Ebony." Shay panicked, "Open your eyes baby girl, come on let me see those beautiful blues."

Ebony slowly opened her eyes but instantly shut them when she found the light too bright. "Hurts." Was all Ebony could mutter.

"I know hunny but you need to open your eyes for me, I need to check you over." Shay had her first aid kit beside her and was already pressing a compress to Ebony's head as she waited for the girl to come around.

Ebony gave it another go, opening her eyes and this time kept them open as she studied Shay's concerned face from the floor. She was still lying on her back in the middle of the apartment.

"What happened?" Shay asked slowly.

"Devon…" Was all Ebony managed to answer before Kelly entered the flat to see the commotion.

"EBONY!?" Kelly was frantic as he rushed over to his sister.

Meanwhile, Shay was crawling back from Ebony's side and sat with her head in her hands against the fall. "This is all my fault." Shay muttered as she realised how this had happened.

"What are you talking about?" Kelly's attention was still focussed on Ebony as he helped her up into a sitting position but his question was directed at Shay.

"I gave Devon a key." Shay said slowly but surely as tears began to flow down her face.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Because I've neglected my updates of late, here's a VERY long chapter from the UK. Enjoy! Also, it's about time that I thanked you lovely folk for your wonderful reviews xx**_

 **Chapter 7**

The week following the robbery, Kelly had asked Ebony to join him at the firehouse when he was on shift. He hadn't liked the thought of her being alone in the apartment and Ebony had agreed without question. Truth be told, Ebony hadn't felt comfortable being in the flat at the moment either. In fact, she had stuck to Kelly's side like glue. This had given the siblings a chance to talk, of which Boden had been thankful. Kelly had been moping around the house whilst Ebony had been giving him the cold shoulder and the chief had had enough of his moods.

"How are the job applications going?" Kelly asked as he and the rest of the house returned from a recent call and marched into the rec room. He planted a kiss on her cheek causing her to pull a face.

"Eww, you're sweaty." Ebony protested.

"So you don't want a hug too, then right?" Kelly joked, trying to put his arms around his sister as she squirmed away from him.

"Kelly!" She whined, earning laughs from the rest of the house.

"Kelly, leave your sister alone." Herrmann defended the young girl as he came to sit down next to her.

"Thanks Hermmy." Ebony responded, kissing him on the cheek and sticking her tongue out at Kelly. "At least someone loves me."

"Ebony! I'm wounded." Kelly mocked being shot in the heart, earning more laughs from the house as the siblings interacted.

However, the laughter was short lived as Gail McLeod made yet another visit to the house. Kelly had filled Ebony in on how this woman was trying to close houses to save money for the city and that just before Ebony had returned, she had managed to convince the chief to retire and Benny take his place. Ebony was glad that that situation had quickly resolved and returned to normal.

"And who might this be?" McLeod stepped in to the rec room and motioned to Ebony. "Unauthorised visitors? Yet another reason why this firehouse is out of control."

Ebony stood up to speak but Kelly stepped in front of her, offering a protective arm for his sister to remain behind. "It's no business of yours McLeod."

"I think you'll find it is lieutenant. You see, we've had word that a young lady has been staying at the house whilst you've been on shift. Care to elaborate?" McLeod said slyly, her lips curling.

"I'm his sister." Ebony spoke up.

"Benny did mention a girl." McLeod smirked, "Not good enough to follow your father and brother into CFD, thought it was in the Severide blood for generations?"

That comment made Ebony's blood boil, the tone use by McLeod was familiar to her as it was the tone Benny frequently used when reminding her that she was not Kelly. The comments had been unwarranted and personal, Ebony had done nothing to this woman or even met her and already the attacks were coming in.

"I…" Ebony made to argue back but her words were caught in the back of her throat.

"Eloquently put Miss Severide. Looks like your father was right about you after all." McLeod bit with venom and Ebony recoiled. How could this total stranger be that judgemental of her? Damn Benny Severide.

This hadn't been the first-time Benny had managed to trash people's opinions of Ebony before they had even met her. He had tried to do it at all of her parent teacher meetings, in front of her friends and also their family. Even now, when he was no longer in her life, he was still doing it.

Kelly looked behind to see his sister had gone deathly pale, in a state of shock almost. He guided her gently into the chair behind her and crouched down to be at eye level with his sister, but she wouldn't look at him.

"I think you ought to get out." Mouch stood up from his position on the couch and was joined by other standing also.

"You're way out of line lady." Herrmann added.

"Nobody is spoken to like that in this house." Casey cemented, causing McLeod to retreat closer to the door.

"Mark my words, this house will close. I have enough evidence now to see this CFD stain shut down permanently." McLeod smirked before turning on her heels and leaving.

The house breathed an audible sound of relief when McLeod left before turning to check on Ebony. Kelly was still crouching in front of her as she remained catatonic, causing Kelly to worry.

"Hey," Casey said quietly beside Kelly, "Why don't you take her to your office? Away from all these eyes?"

Kelly nodded to his friend, why hadn't he thought of that? "Come on Ebs." He smiled at his sister and held out a hand for her, which she carefully took before following him to the bullpit and his office.

With his door shut firmly, Kelly sat down on his desk chair as Ebony sat down on the bed automatically; this is the way they had always sat when they needed to talk.

Ebony slipped off her shoes, drew her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. She looked up at Kelly with watery eyes and for what seemed like the hundredth time since she had returned to Chicago, his heart broke just by looking at her.

"How could you bring him back into our lives Kelly?" Ebony asked softly.

"I needed his help not long after you left." Kelly started but faltered.

"Because of your shoulder?" Ebony asked.

"How did you find out?" Kelly asked quickly but realisation hit him. "Boden." He breathed and Ebony nodded.

"Yes for my shoulder and then we just stayed in contact." Kelly was relieved that Boden had told her in a way, that way he wouldn't have to see the shock and disappointment from his sister at his reckless behaviour.

"Ok." Ebony said softly. She couldn't really blame Kelly for wanting to get to know their father again. She had been angry at first but Kelly had every right to speak to him. Kelly didn't know what had happened behind closed doors whenever it was just her and Benny, their mother had witnessed it on occasion but she was too nervous to challenge him on it. To Benny a daughter was a mistake that he hated their mother for; daughters didn't belong at CFD.

"Who was that woman?" Ebony asked.

"That's Gail McLeod. She's been employed by the city to save money. She's trying to shut down a load of firehouses and we're on her hit list." Kelly explained.

"But this is a huge house who has done great things." Ebony sighed, it made no sense to close 51 especially since the nearest firehouse was 30 minutes away at least.

"We know that but it's not getting through to the likes of McLeod and she's working with Benny on it too." Kelly cursed himself as he mentioned Benny without thinking. Being a big brother again was taking a while to sink in.

"Well that's a new one for Benny, he always had your best interests at heart." Ebony said bitterly. "Would have thought he'd want to keep his precious son in a job."

"Hey, that's not called for." Kelly snapped at his sister. "I know you've had your differences…"

"Differences?" Ebony stood up angrily. "What happened with that McLeod woman back there was not the first time Benny has influenced something like that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Every parent-teacher meeting Benny would convince my teachers that I was worthless and I'd never amount to anything." Ebony explained angrily.

"That can't be true." Kelly tried to defend but was snapped at by an angry Ebony.

"Ever wonder why I didn't have friends until we moved into the city? Benny would speak to parents of kids in my class and tell them that I had issues and things, he would say it right in front of me. I was bullied relentlessly for it at school as well as home!" Ebony had her firsts balled angrily as she remembered her childhood treatment.

"What do you mean you were bullied?" Kelly asked calmly but with concern etching across his face. Had something happened right under his nose?

"Leave it alone Kelly." Ebony lowered her voice and avoided eye contact.

"No Ebony. Tell me." Kelly stood firm, he wanted answers. How could he just be learning all of this now?

"I'm not talking about this, especially with you." Ebony raised her eyes to meet Kelly's, there was a mix of anger and hurt in them which unsettled him enormously. She moved to the door and furiously pulled it open.

"Eb." Kelly tried to stop her from leaving but it was futile.

"No Kelly. Just know that Benny has had it in for me since day one and when we moved here together it was a fresh start. You've brought him back into our lives and either he goes or I do." Ebony delivered her ultimatum and stormed off.

Kelly was left speechless, what on earth was she going on about? At this point in time, it felt like he hardly knew her. When she had come to live with them after their mum died, they had been inseparable and had rarely fought. Sure they bickered every now and then like siblings do but it had never lead to an ultimatum like this. As he watched Ebony storm off, he was left feeling exacerbated. This was all his fault and he knew it, not necessarily for reconnecting with Benny but for not telling her or keeping in touch enough whilst she was in England.

When Ebony had left for her adventure, Kelly was relieved. He could finally start living his life again. He had never regretted that his sister had come to live with him but he had missed out on being irresponsible during his twenties like the rest of the city did. He had ended up forfeiting nights on the town and coming home at 5am for looking after his kid sister and sleeping on a sofa until they were able to get an apartment with more than one bedroom.

He had had to be the mature one, with the income and who was dependable. Ebony had needed him so much, considerably more than he had ever thought possible. She had never been a confident person but had been bubbly and bright in front of him, yet after their mother died she shrunk inside herself. It had taken a while for her to settle into the city compared to their suburban home but she seemed to do well within seconds of stepping foot in the door at her new school.

****Flash back****

 _Kelly was standing out at the front of the fire house waiting for his sister, like he did at 4pm every day and sure enough as the hour struck his sister hoped off the yellow school bus waving to her friends as she did so._

 _He smiled as he watched her saying goodbye to her friends, every day she was looking a little happier. They still had a long way to go though and no sooner had he thought that, the mask was back up across Ebony's face and he saw the timid girl duck her head as she headed towards him._

" _Hey kiddo" Kelly cheered, hoping he'd see the smile she had been wearing reappear. "How was school?"_

" _It was ok," She said quietly and ended the conversation._

 _The siblings stood awkwardly for a minute before Ebony launched herself forward and hugged Kelly's waist, knocking the wind out of him._

" _What's that for?"_

" _Just for being there for me, I'm so lucky to have you as my family." Ebony said quietly._

" _I'm always going to be your family Ebs, I'm not going anywhere." Kelly wanted to know more about what was going on in his sisters head but for now he was just grateful of the affect. "Come on let's get inside, have you got some homework to do?"_

 _It had been sanctioned that when Kelly was on shift, Ebony was able to stay at the firehouse. He'd had to attend a number of meetings with Boden and chief Tiberg to discuss how it would all work. Kelly had no doubt that the decision to accommodate Ebony was out of loyalty to Benny but that wasn't a concern right now. Eventually he would be able to make a name for himself without being the son of Captain Benjamin Severide, but for now he was happy that everyone was helping him with Ebony._

" _Hey kiddo!" Chief Boden greeted as Ebony followed her brother into the recreation room. "How was school?"_

" _Hello Chief." Ebony nodded respectfully, "It was ok thank you."_

" _How are you settling in over there? It must be tough at a new school, have you had chance to make any friends yet?" Boden asked as he directed the youngest to the vacant table. Kelly walked passed them and headed to the kitchen to fetch his sister a cup of tea as had been the routine recently._

" _It's a lot bigger than my old school so it's very busy." Ebony answered quietly as she unpacked her school books and notepad onto the table. "I've met a couple of people like me."_

" _What do you mean like you?" Kelly asked as he returned with a mug of hot tea._

 _Ebony didn't look up as her brother approached and answered even quieter than before, "You know, from a unique family situation."_

 _Kelly paused and looked at Boden for help with the interpretation but only received a confused look from the chief. "Oh yeah?" The chief tried to prompt but he was rapidly learning that getting the girl to open up was difficult._

" _They were talking about forming a band." Ebony smiled_

" _That sounds like a lot of fun. I didn't realise you played an instrument?" Boden asked, moving the conversation forward. Kelly cringed as the chief asked his question, Ebony hadn't had much to do with music over the last 18 months or so and he couldn't remember seeing her guitar when they were packing up the house._

" _A couple. Mostly guitar but I don't anymore." Ebony answered, looking down at her notebook rather than at the two adults talking to her._

" _I'd love to hear you play sometime, maybe I could come and see your band when you all get set up?" Boden asked kindly._

" _I don't have a guitar anymore." Ebony commented defeated somewhat. Kelly studied his sister, by now he'd figured out the guitar was missing but he hadn't known why. "He took it off me, said I was wasting my time with it and then broke it in front of me." Ebony said quietly without prompt from either adult._

 _As the words left Ebony's lips, she threw her hands up to her mouth in shock and to prevent her from saying anything else. Benny had told her not to tell anyone. He'd said she had deserved what had happened and no one would disagree with him._

 _Now that Kelly thought about it, he vaguely remembered some sort of interaction involving a guitar, Benny and his sister. There had been shouting, crying and then he'd not seen Ebony for a couple of days. What the hell had happened? He wracked his brain trying to remember, had she become sick?  
_

 _Before he could ask more about the incident, the chief spoke. "I've got one that you can have, I'll bring it for you next shift. It sits gathering dust in my office, you'll be doing me a favour." Ebony looked up wide eyed at the chief before a giant grin occupied her face._

" _That was be amazing! Thank you chief!"_

****Flash back****

Kelly smiled at the memory. When the chief had given his sister the guitar, it was like a gateway into her healing from the pain of losing their mother. She'd soon started the band with her new friends and it became a much-needed outlet. She became more confident, rebellious at times, and Kelly enjoyed seeing her personality develop as she grew.

But there had been times when her feistiness disappeared and she reverted to her old self; quiet and withdrawn. Come to think about it, that usually happened when Benny was mentioned. Kelly desperately tried to piece together the evidence, what was it about Benny that rattled Ebony so much? What did she mean he bullied her?

He remembered a time when he'd been called into the school a few months in. There had been a school project about families and Ebony had lashed out when the teacher had made a comment about her description of their father, saying it was disrespectful. She had described him as a bully then and now it was resurfacing. Come to think of it, over the years she'd mentioned it on and off. Kelly needed to get to the bottom of this because whatever it was, it was still bothering his sister.


	8. Chapter 8

Chicago Fire fanfiction

Chapter 8 -

 **This chapter will deal with sensitive material, it could be triggering so please approach with caution.**

Ebony had decided that she needed to take a walk and clear her head. She ignored the questioning looks she received as she left the house, aside from Dawson who had stood directly in her path.

"Have you seen Shay?" Dawson asked, concern dominating her tone.

"No. Is she not here?" Ebony asked raising an eyebrow, wasn't she supposed to be on shift?

"Nope." Dawson shook her head. "She's hasn't shown up or even called the chief. I'm worried, she's not picking up my calls."

Ebony tried to continue on her but Dawson grabbed her by the arm, causing her to pull away sharply in defence. "Don't touch me." Ebony snarled.

"Ebony, I'm sorry." Dawson tried to backtrack but Ebony was defiant.

"You have no right to touch me." The venom in her voice was uncharacteristic but was laced with panic also.

"Ebs?" Kelly called from the other end of the corridor, uncertain of what he had just witnessed.

In the brief moment that Kelly and Ebony locked eyes, he could see through her anger at being grabbed and saw the fear in her eyes. Suddenly, he felt like he had been hit by a brick wall. He knew that look, that was the look he would see whenever Benny threatened to punish her. The aversion to touch and fear it generated, surely that didn't mean what he thought it did?

But before Kelly could ask Ebony about it, his sister had fled from the firehouse. Leaving him only Dawson to ask for an explanation. "What was that all about?"

"I was asking her about whether she had seen Shay or not." Dawson said quietly, looking at the spot Ebony had previously occupied.

"And that meant you grabbed her?" Kelly's nostrils flared slightly as he demanded an answer from the paramedic.

"Kelly, I'm sorry that I startled her but…" Dawson tried to apologise but was interrupted by Kelly.

"What. Happened. Dawson." Kelly punctuated through gritted teeth.

"She was trying to leave, wasn't listening to me." Dawson responded, looking at the floor.

"SO YOU GRABBED HER!?" Kelly shouted. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU DAWSON?"

"KELLY!" Boden shouted above Kelly to stop his young lieutenant from lashing out, the commotion had started to draw a crowd. "Enough."

Boden didn't have time to even reach the pair before Kelly stormed off outside and Dawson made herself scare. He stood in the corridor, pinching the bridge of his nose in contemplation and frustration. He sighed heavily and was met by the equally contemplative face of Christopher Herrmann.

"We need to help the pair of them." He commented softly. "Sure there were problems between them, after all they are siblings, but I don't remember it ever being this bad."

"I know Chris. I just don't know where to start." Boden looked out towards the front of the fire house through the apparatus doors and saw Kelly leaning heavily against the fence. "There's something bigger going on here."

"What do you mean chief?" Herrmann probed, he'd always had a soft spot for the siblings and at one point he had even seen them as an extension of his own family. He'd babysat for Kelly when he'd needed a break, comforted the kid when she'd had a nightmare and had even been there when she graduated high school.

"I'm not sure yet." The chief checked for eavesdroppers before continuing. "Something has stirred in Ebony since she saw Benny the other night. It's dredged something up that she's kept hidden from the rest of us, even Kelly."

"What is your gut telling you chief?"

"I'm praying that my gut is wrong." Boden sighed, "Because if it is correct, this will devastate Kelly."

Herrmann looked at his friend as he followed his chain of thought and he too hoped that their theory was incorrect. "What do we do?" Herrmann asked again, wanting to share the worry and help the siblings.

"They need to talk it out but they also need to both calm down first. Leave it with me." Boden nodded his head and retreated back to his office, leaving Herrmann standing in the corridor looking out at a brooding Kelly.

Sometime later, Herrmann knocked on Kelly's door. He looked down at the young lieutenant and in that moment the boundaries between rank melted away and Herrmann comforted Kelly.

"Why is this so much harder than it was before she left?" Kelly sighed.

"You've been away from each other for 3 years Kelly. You've both changed." Herrmann began to explain as he perched on Kelly's desk.

"Does she not need me anymore?" Kelly sighed again with dejection.

"Kelly, she'll always need you." Herrmann supported. "Give it time and you'll re-establish the relationship you guys had."

"Thanks Herrmann."

"I think you're forgetting some of the more difficult times you had with Ebony. It wasn't all plain sailing for you." Herrmann commented, sympathising with the younger man. "The chief and I had to step in and mediate a number of times."

"The difference then was that I was the one causing the difficulties. Ebony was innocent in 99% of it." Kelly explained. "She was so quiet back then, barely said a word or uttered a complaint. Now she's the one with the problem."

"What's she been saying?" Herrmann probed Kelly gently.

Kelly looked behind Herrmann to ensure their privacy before continuing. "She arrived back in Chicago without telling me for a start. Then she saw Benny and flipped out."

"That's not a surprise. He has been absent since that girl came into your care, he's the reason you had to take on caring for your sister." Herrmann reasoned.

"It's something more than that. She hates him Herrmann." Kelly emphasised the word hate. "She keeps mentioning things that I've never heard before."

"Like what?" Herrmann wondered if he knew what Kelly was getting at, he'd suspected it himself a number of times since he had met Ebony.

"That I was the favourite and that he bullied her?" The confliction on Kelly's face was as plain as day. Kelly had been so angry when Benny had abandoned them without a care in the word, but he'd idolised the man before that and still had considerable respect for him. Truth be told, he'd enjoyed getting back in touch with his father over the last couple of years.

"You don't think Benny stayed away because of Ebony, do you?" Kelly questioned aloud.

"Look kid, Benny Severide is a complicated beast. He is a well-respected captain who lives and breathes CFD. You are his first-born pride and joy, who is smashing every record he ever set here." Herrmann recalled, "But where does your sister fit into that? What were his aspirations for her?"

Once more, Kelly felt like he'd plummeted head first into a brick wall. How did everyone else see the rift and not him? Was it true what Ebony had said earlier, had Benny only looked out for his best interests? As Kelly thought about it more, Benny had done nothing more than berate her. He constantly reminded her that she should neither be seen or heard unless instructed to. It had been an old mentality that their mother had also followed but there had been times when his kid sister hadn't understood. He'd punished her for it but never in front of them, what had happened behind closed doors?

"How do I fix this?" Kelly was exacerbated.

"You can't." Herrmann stated simply before continuing. "Whilst away, she's grown into a strong and independent woman. She has her own mind and I think she's finally starting to deal with her past."

Kelly raised an eyebrow a Herrmann prompting the man to continue. "You can't be that quick to forget the pain she went through losing your mother and dealing with moving in with you. It was a massive adjustment for her and she didn't handle it very well."

"But we moved past that, we helped her with that." Kelly interrupted as he tried to shake his head clear of the memory of finding her in their apartment bathroom.

"Yes, we helped her through some really dark times." Herrmann agreed. "But they were immediate problems, I suspect this one is deep rooted. She's clearly only just starting to process it all, perhaps because she's seen Benny or maybe it's because she's finally ready. Regardless, we have to be there for her. She may be an adult now but she will always be our little Bonnie."

Kelly smiled at the use of Herrmann's nickname for his sister. Him calling her that had always brought a smile to her face, perhaps she looked to him as a father figure as well? He knew that she considered Boden to be like a father, did that also stretch to Herrmann? He and Cindy had welcomed her into their home with open arms, offering to babysit and pick her up from band practise when he needed them to.

"You're right. But how do we help her?" Kelly asked nervously.

"That my friend, is the question with a thousand answers and none of them are going to be easy."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 _ **Thanks for all the kind reviews and apologies for not updating sooner. To the 'guest' reviewer, I'm sorry that you deemed this story as a 'waste of your time'.**_

 _ **This chapter is in line with season 2 episode 9. Trigger warning: This chapter deals with suicide contemplation and self harm.**_

Ebony had been walking through Chicago with no real sense of direction or purpose. She was deep in thought and was surprised when a blonde hair woman on the bridge roused her from her musings.

It was Shay.

Even from the bank that Ebony was currently stood on, she could see that Shay was lost inside her own head. Ebony knew what that was like, to be looking into the abyss searching for any sort of way out.

As Ebony walked towards Shay, she pulled her sleeves over her hands self-consciously. She knew better than most how dark things could get. Not long after moving in with Kelly, she'd felt so distraught that she'd harmed herself. At the time it had felt like a huge relief but in hindsight, it just lead to more pain and suffering as she continued in secret.

It had continued for some time before Kelly had even noticed, not that she had wanted him to know in the first place. No, this was the only way she was able to hide how broken she was in the aftermath of their mum's death. She had reasoned at the time that Kelly had enough to deal with at the fire academy, he was achieving his dream and she was already too much of a burden.

She'd met some people at school, who had come from similarly dysfunctional families and had helped her cope a little better each day. They would text her continuously and even call. Together they formed a band and that became a far better outlet then anything she was doing to herself. Being able to perform and sing her heart out had been exactly what she had needed. It was made even sweeter by the notion that Benny would never have let her do anything like this but each week there was always someone from firehouse 51 watching.

The day Kelly had walked in on Ebony and discovered her secret was still clear as day in her mind. The fear on his face was something she would never forgive herself for causing.

*** Flashback ***

 _16 year old Ebony had been sat huddled in the corner of her bedroom, hidden from sight by her bed. Her knees were pulled to her chest and silent tears streamed down her face. Today had just been too much, their mother had died a little over a year ago and she had received yet another letter from her father._

' _You are holding your brother back.' The letter had said, followed by 'You will never amount to anything, you are worthless'._

 _Ebony didn't know why these letters kept arriving. She didn't know what she had done to warrant the torrent of abuse either. As far as her and Kelly were concerned, Benny Severide was not a part of their lives. He was living with a new family somewhere near Nebraska, or something, Ebony didn't much care. He had walked out on their family just as their mum got sick and had never looked back._

 _So why had the man felt the need to send Ebony letters? Each letter contained a new fact about Kelly's progress and highlighted how he could achieve so much better if she wasn't there. Ebony had kept the letters secret from Kelly, he knew nothing of the way their father treated her when they lived at home never mind what was happening now. Instead, Ebony had kept them in a box under her bed so that one day she could burn them. Every time she had gone to burn one of the letters so far, Kelly had been nearby._

 _What had made this particular letter worse was the timing, arriving just after what would have been their mothers 50_ _th_ _birthday. The year they were planning to take a once in a lifetime family trip. Yet instead, Ebony had a callous letter written with venom and that was signed off 'Your mother would be ashamed of you'._

 _That had been the sentence that had broken Ebony today. She'd banished the letter to the box and had been thankful that Kelly was attending classes for another hour at the academy._

 _Huddled in her corner with a razor blade in her hand, she determinedly dragged in across her skin desperate to be in control and to feel more than just numbness. She should be angry at the letters that Benny had sent but instead each one added more to her self-doubt and she only felt the guilt of holding her brother back._

 _Ebony hissed with the pain, leant her head back against the wall and breathed deeply. She counted down slowly as she began to feel the adrenaline surge through her and then she screamed. Eyes closed, blood trickling from her wrist and safe in her room, Ebony Severide screamed at the world._

 _Suddenly the door burst open and her brother rushed in. Through her dizziness, caused by the blood and the adrenaline, Ebony saw the fear on Kelly's face. When had he arrived home?_

" _EBONY!" He shouted and Ebony was snapped back to reality._

 _The blood. The blade. Oh God. They were the thoughts that entered her head as Kelly rushed towards her and sank to the floor._

" _What's happened? Are you ok?" Kelly was frantic, "I heard you scream, wait is that blood?"_

 _Ebony looked up at Kelly as he reached for her wrist, but instead she pulled it out of his grasp. "What… a..re you.. do..ing home?" She asked horsely._

" _Never mind that, what the hell happened?" Kelly barked at her in panic, still trying to grab for her arm._

" _Leave it Kelly." Ebony requested calmly._

" _You're bleeding Ebony." Kelly stopped his reaching and instead looked at his sister for the first time, she looked so calm and collected maybe even peaceful._

" _I know."_

" _But…" Kelly gingerly reached forward for the wrist and saw not only the blood but other raised marks decorating the porcelain skin. Why had he never noticed these? The realisation crept across her brother's face with momentary confusion and hen sadness woven in. They had learnt about attending calls like this at the academy, had this meant she was attempting suicide? Kelly searched his brain desperately for the answer. No, this meant that she was needing to express herself or gain control again?_

 _Instead of berating his sister, Kelly sunk to the floor beside Ebony and pulled her into a hug. Ebony gently rested her head on his shoulder and Kelly reached a hand up to stroke her hair softly. He cradled her for hours, both of them crying softly as they processed the situation. From then onwards, he vowed to pay more attention to his sister. She was clearly struggling and she needed him. She was her priority._

 _*** End of flashback ***_

Ever since that day, Kelly had made more of an effort to talk to Ebony about things. Whether that meant sitting in an awkward silence until she was ready to talk or if it meant that Kelly had to push her to the brink where she screamed it at him. Regardless of the extraction mechanism, Ebony had felt relieved to be processing the emotion less destructively.

That didn't mean she instantly stopped self harming, this wasn't a fairytale. There had been slip ups and long nights alone, it was unavoidable with Kelly's job. There had been the darkest of nights too, where she had honestly believed that things might have been better had she attempted suicide. Thankfully, she'd had her friends and Kelly to help her through those nights. Kelly had confided in Herrmann and the Chief about it too and Ebony had been grateful, it had given her brother someone to share his concern with and gain support himself. When Shay had moved in with them, she'd learned about Ebony's struggles too and had vowed to help too.

Now it was Ebony's turn to help someone in need as she approached Shay, the woman she considered a sister. "Hey Shay." Ebony said softly as she stood next to Shay and joined her in looking into the cold water below.

"I remember when you guys used to find me here. The water looks beautiful doesn't it?" Ebony reflected sadly before asking gently, "How you doing?"

That had been all it had taken for Shay to crumble against the siderail and slide down to the cold concrete floor. Ebony joined her there and pulled her into her side.

"Kelly." Kelly turned at hearing the gruff voice of his father coming from down the corridor. "We need to talk."

"Ok." Was all Kelly could muster, he was still trying to process what Ebony had insinuated and that had made him unsure about their father.

Heading into Kelly's office, Benny shut the door and took the desk chair. Still feeling uneasy, Kelly opted to stand before asking "For what do we owe this pleasure?"

"Usually conversation starts with 'Hey Dad, how are you?" Benny responded sharply, before smirking and continuing. "But you must be busy so I'll get right to it. Gail McLeod has said that there's a way to save 51."

"What might that be?" Kelly straightened up and eyed his father suspiciously.

"If I replace Boden." Benny smirked.

This must have been a dream come true for the retired captain, an opportunity for him to get one up on his former colleague and rival. The smug look on Benny's face confirmed it all, he wasn't in this to help out firehouse 51 at all.

"So where does Boden go?" Kelly asked

"McLeod will offer him a severance package, he'll get a nice early retirement." Benny answered.

"So what do you get from coming out of retirement?" Kelly asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Benny tried to feign, "I'll just be helping out my former and now sons station."

"Nice try dad." Kelly remarked, "What about your wife, Beth and the kids?"

A resentful look flashed across Benny's face when Kelly mentioned his second wife, had this been the resentment Ebony had seen? Kelly pushed the thoughts from his head for the moment as Benny answered. "Beth doesn't want me around the kids at the moment. I'm needed more here in Chicago."

Why would Beth not want him around the children? What had happened? Kelly wracked his brain, how old were the kids now? Determined to find out more, Kelly probed Benny for an explanation. "Not training them for CFD then?" He tried to joke.

"No." Benny responded seriously. "Both boys are wet lettuces, they'll never be good enough for CFD. No matter how hard I push them, they'll never be like my first born. Useless boys. Such a disappointment."

Kelly stared at Benny almost open mouthed, how could a father say that about his children? The kids could only be about 8, possibly older. Kelly didn't know, but he did know that what Benny had just said was similar to the conversation he had had with Ebony earlier that day.

"They're only young." Kelly tried to defend.

"CFD should be in their blood, but their mother has babied them. I've tried to instil discipline into those kids but that's when she threw me out of the house." Benny let slip.

Instil discipline? Beth threw him out? Kelly was having more questions that he was getting answers. Was this more evidence of how much of a bully Benny Severide was?

Kelly did not like the bitter and angry feeling that was rising in his chest. He hadn't wanted to believe Benny was capable of bullying his children or mistreating them, but the more he watched the man the more apparent it became. "Maybe you should take some time out and talk to Beth?" Kelly offered. "Boden isn't going to give up this firehouse, everyone knows that."

"Well we will just have to make him then." Benny snapped. "I didn't come to ask for your permission Kelly. I came to warn you that I WILL be taking this house." With that, Benny Severide stormed out of firehouse 51.


End file.
